In the Beginning
by Stars in the Sky at Noon
Summary: Jack Frost reminisces about the old life he once had in the woods, the life that is stored inside a delicate tooth box. As he remembers, he asks himself questions, pondering over the possibilities for change if he hadn't fallen through the ice; if he'd never become a Guardian. Thinking about his past leads Jack to some hard resolves and realizations.
1. Prologue

**In the Beginning**

"Jack!" Toothiana was breathless as she and Bunnymund stumbled into the clearing, stopping dead in their tracks as they saw him.

"Oy, mate," Bunnymund greeted him, crossing his arms. A suspicious look flitted across his face. "What're ya doin' here? Y'oughta be at the party."

Jack hid the item in his hand inside the pocket of his frost-crusted hoodie. "No thanks."

Toothiana frowned, wings fluttering as she glided over to hover beside him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he replied, though his mouth was dry. "I just…need some time to think." An awkward silence passed over the three guardians. Jack let it. He just really wanted and needed the others to leave him alone for a while. A good, long while.

Bunnymund's foot was tapping nervously, and his whiskers twitched from the cold. "Well… North's takin' out the kids for one last li'l ride on the sleigh," he suggested anxiously. "Y'wanna hop along, mate?"

The poorly-made pun was met with silence, until Jack shook his head ever so slightly. "Look, bunny…" he gave his best effort of a grin. "Take out the kids, okay? You too, Toothiana," he added. "The last thing they want is for me to spoil the fun party while… well, I'll catch up when I'm ready. After all, where winter goes, the north's never far behind."

Bunny nodded and bounded off, looking only a bit too happy to be able to leave Jack to his own problems. Toothiana hesitated, but with a reassuring smile from Jack, she despondently flew off.

_Finally._

Jack let out a sigh, his cold breath stirring the winter air. He could hear the happy jingles of the bells from North's sleigh, and the excited squeals of Jamie and his friends as they boarded. _They're gonna have the time of their life on there,_ he thought with a chuckle, thinking back to his very first eventful ride with the Guardians on the Russian Cossack's sleigh.

The _other _Guardians. He couldn't forget, now, that he shared the same responsibility.

Only once he heard the cold _whoosh _of air signaling their departure, did Jack pull out the tiny, exquisite object that he'd hidden from his friends.

His toothbox—his memories.

The ornate container, with the head of a mischievous boy on the face, held something more precious to Jack than he could describe. It held a history, a certain something he hadn't been able to hold on to in a very long time.

It held people, who were now long dead, that had once been precious to him. That he had once loved, lived with, breathed with, shared with, talked and eaten with. It held his family. It held his friends. It held a life that he hadn't known, for the longest time—not even when he stumbled on their village hundreds of years ago.

He hadn't recognized their voices when they called for him in the woods; hadn't understood their tears. He didn't realize why they were searching, and why it had been so futile. He didn't understand why they lingered so much by that lake, the lake that "coincidentally" happened to be the same lake from which he was born.

Poor them. They had lost a son, a brother, a friend, a lover.

He, meanwhile, had gained a new fantastic life.

As the breeze ruffled his hair, Jack couldn't help but wonder how their lives had ended. Did they end well? He hoped his death hadn't ruined everything for their futures.

He didn't want that. But it was years ago; how could he change everything?

Deep down inside, Jack wondered if he ought to feel guilty for becoming a guardian—but he swatted the gesture aside. Becoming a Guardian wasn't part of the plan. He hadn't meant for that to happen, so how could he be to blame?

There were many other things to feel guilty for in the life he held. All those foolish actions, in the end, had caused the pain so many warned him about.

He closed his eyes, trying to remember how it felt, when he drowned…

Did it hurt?

What had he thought of, again?

Did he say sorry? Did he realize he was going to die?

As all these questions swirled through his mind, more memories came to light. He thought of that morning… the one by the lake, where it truly had begun…

* * *

**Hello. This is my first _Rise of the Guardians _fanfic, so I'm kind of "new to the crew" as my friends and I call it.**

**I'm not sure if I want to leave this as a one-shot, or take it a little further...Please leave suggestions in the Review column. I would really appreciate it.**

**Peace out.**


	2. Lovers & Lakes

**Chapter 1**

**Many thanks to ****sarahmaria98, AngetianPrincess18, and Moira Colleen for your support.  
Especially to Moira Colleen for the review. I didn't expect anyone to respond so quickly. **

**It's Easter, and I was bored, so I typed up the next chapter. Just so you know, it'll kind of keep going in a back-and-forth between past and present Jack Frost's POV.  
Happy Easter!**

* * *

"Where are we going?"

His hazel eyes twinkled as he pulled her along. "Just come," he insisted, pulling her along.

He couldn't help the excitement which twisted his insides, but also couldn't ignore the anxiety which gnawed at his stomach. What would he say, what would he do if she rebuffed him? Laughed away his offer?

As she tripped over a root for the third time, tearing her skirt, she sighed and flopped down. "I'm tired, Jack," she whined. "Can't this wait? Can't you just tell me when we get home?"

He tried to smile, but his nerves were frayed with worry. "We're not going home."

She rolled her eyes, brown and wide. "Then where _are_ we going, Jack?"

* * *

Ah, yes. He could remember it as if it were yesterday. Running through the woods, with her behind him. She looked beautiful that day. Certainly, she was somewhat ungainly for a girl, and even got made fun of because she wasn't that pretty.

But there was something, of course, inside him that made him tingle when he saw her smeared with dirt, riddled with twigs and thorns sticking out her clothes, soaking wet—

_And_, of course, with flowers in her hair. There was no better way to suit the occasion, after all.

* * *

"Please. It'll be worth it. I promise."

He held out his hand, holding his breath, until finally she stood and grabbed it. "It had better be," she complained. "My mother will kill me once she sees the state of my clothing."

All the while that they ran through the woods, Jack prayed to himself that it would be.

From time to time as they ran, he would glance back to see her pink-cheeked, with her flyaway brown hair bouncing about, and he would have to drag her along by the grip he had on her spindly wrists, skinny as sticks.

Until, finally, they came to the right spot.

Jack almost didn't realize they were here until he saw the water. "Stop!"

He backed away, dragging her with him, trying to ensure she didn't turn and see the surprise he'd spent so long in making. It had taken him all of yesterday and the long hours of the day to complete, all for a simple few minutes that might not even turn out worthwhile.

He turned her around, forcing her by her shoulders, and then placed his hands over her eyes. "Don't open them," he warned, his voice trembling from how giddy he was. He knew that if he asked her not to, she wouldn't, but he still didn't dare take that risk.

"How am I supposed to _walk_, Jack?" she asked nervously. He rested his head on her shoulders comfortingly, seeing as his hands were occupied. "Just follow my lead," he assured her.

She took several steps forward, at Jack's command. "Okay… keep going…"

As they walked through the brush leading to the lake, Jack was forced to duck as several leaves and twigs slapped his face, making her sputter. "Ouch—that stings—ow! Jack, where are we _go_ing? This had _be_tter not be a trick."

"It _is_n't," he insisted, making sure to use his hands to keep her eyes shielded. "Just wait, we'll be out soon—yow—keep walking—"

But by the time he realized they were teetering on the riverbank, it was too late. "Wait, no—watch out—"

Too late. They were both slipping, and with a loud scream, they both fell into the water.

Jack held to her tightly until they resurfaced, clawing desperately at the surface and spitting out lakewater. "_Ja-_ack!" she wailed, struggling to tread water and remain afloat. "You told me it wasn't a trick."

He could hardly keep the laughter out of his voice from the circumstances, but he was still at least somewhat panicked. "I-it wasn't!" he protested, giving her a nudge. "Just look around."

She opened her chestnut eyes, to gaze around the lake. And what she saw made her gasp.

"Oh, Jack…did you do all this?"

Surrounding them were hundreds of magnificent flowers. Some, water lilies, bobbed in the water; a few floated on their sides, knocked over by their obtrusive dive. Others were strung on bushes, in the trees; there were petals scattered everywhere on the shores of the pond. The flowers seemed to glow in the red sunset, and even Jack had to admire his handiwork.

She stared at him in amazement, all her anger and annoyance seemingly forgotten. "Oh, Jack…did you do all…this?"

He had the shame to look modest and embarrassed, at least. "It was all for you," he admitted, "though it didn't go en_tire_ly as planned."

She giggled, and was it not for the sunset Jack would have noticed straight away that she was blushing. "Thank you, Jack. This is…so…so…"

After a while of pedalling in the water, it was clear she didn't have any words. So Jack leaned forward and kissed her. Just a light touch, nothing more, but it still felt important to them, all the same.

And finally, she said the words he'd been dying to hear for years. "I love you, Jack."

"Me too, Katrina."

* * *

Okay, so maybe it hadn't gone entirely as planned, back then—but it still did the trick. They kissed, and then hooked up; that was all he wanted.

Katrina had been his wife-to-be, enduring multiple long months of a cold winter, all for him—but no more. Now she was gone; nothing more than earth beneath a tombstone—if she'd even had a proper burial.

Even though he knew now that none of it was his fault—falling through the ice, becoming a Guardian, leaving legacies, people and memories far behind—the guilt was still there, for what he hadn't done while he was still alive. What he hadn't done to help his family; his wife.

He'd not been unfaithful, nor had he robbed, kept secrets of any sort…

No, the matter required something a little more than explanation…

* * *

"Whee!"

He watched as his little sister, Alice, tumbled across the ice. Her feet got tangled in her long skirt, however, and she wound up crashing-landing in a nearby snowbank. As she dug herself out, sputtering, Jack slid gracefully to a stop next to her, laughing so hard he was leaning on his hiking stick.

"That was the most _ele_gant thing I ever saw."

Alice glared at him as she clambered out the pile of snow. "That's not fair!" she complained. "You've been doing this since forever! I'm just starting!"

Jack tried his best to stop laughing and smiled. "Yeah. Sorry, sorry." He held out his staff. "Need a hand?"

Smiling, Alice took hold of it.

"Gotcha!"

Pulling her to her feet, Jack swung the staff around, sending Alice flying all the way to the other side of the pond, screaming the entire way until she tumbled into another snowbank. As Jack followed, laughing again, she began yelling at him. "_Ja_-ack! Did you have to do that?" she wailed, brushing snow off her coat with a pout.

He dusted flakes from her stringy brown hair. "Of course I had to," he teased. "After all, you were just so _gull_ible." When Alice didn't smile, though, he stopped. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Alice brightened a bit and shook her head. "No…it's just that Katrina's gonna yell at me again for ruining the fur coat she made me." She screwed her face into a scowl. "A_gain._"

Jack knelt in front of her with a soft smile. "Hey, come on now," he told her. "Trina's not so bad."

Alice huffed, folding her arms over her chest. She looked especially feisty with fur mitts on and a red nose. "Maybe to _you_, she isn't. But I don't like Katrina. She's just…just…"

Jack grinned. "Just what?"

Alice threw her hands in the air, giving up. "Oh, I don't _know, _Jack. She just bothers me all the time, like…like she's my mother or something!"

Rubbing his sister's shoulders comfortingly, Jack gave her a crooked smile. "Well, she _is _going to be a part of this family in a year or two. So you might as well get used to it," he warned her with a wink. Alice tried to scowl at him again, but it kept turning into a smirk.

Jack gasped, tapping his staff against the ice. "Uh-oh. Which reminds me…we were supposed to collect some timber on our way back for Trina."

Alice rolled her eyes. "See? There, that's it! She's _so_ demanding. It's always, 'Alice feed the chickens!' or 'Alice, dear, why don't you help me spin some wool' or then 'Alice, why don't you make yourself useful?'"

Jack gave a weak smile. "I don't know, Alice. She does have a point—for me, at least," he added hastily when his sister glared at him. He shrugged. "We could be moving out, soon, sometime after we're married…and I'll have more responsibilities. I have to…prepare for that time, Alice."

Alice stamped her feet. "_More _responsibility? How? You've got less people to care for, by yourselves."

Jack tapped his chin thoughtfully. "You do have a point… But we still should go home." He pinched her nose playfully. "After all, we don't want them to worry, now, do we?"

Alice shook her head, and he grinned. "Alright! Last one out the pond is a rotten egg!"

With a shriek, she raced for the snowy shore, tumbling behind Jack as he skated across the ice, his staff leaving a trail in the frosty surface.

* * *

Ah, yes. Alice and Trina. Jack had to wonder how things fell out between the two of them. They'd never quite gotten along. Had Trina abandoned his sister, leaving Alice and his mother to fend for themselves? Or did she stay and mourn alongside them?

It had been so long that Jack couldn't even be sure what kind of action she would take, nor would he blame her if she had decided to take to her own path.

That had been his last year alive, Jack realized. His last year wearing a leather cloak, with a staff that was just a hiking stick. His last year with brown hair and eyes; his last year with memories, family, and people who could see him.

If he'd known it had been his last year, would he have acted differently? Had he known he was going to fall through the ice, lose his memories, and spend the next three hundred years in complete isolation, would he have lived it any other way?

_Yes_, something told him. Yes, he would have.

But how?

Just how would he change it?

* * *

**I'm sorry this was kind of short. I'll make it longer next time. **

**Okay, I figured he _had _to have a girl fit in _some_where. And sorry about naming Jack's sister. If you don't like it... I apologize.**


End file.
